Magicae

Chapter 18: The Principal's Office

Alex was hit in the chest with a chunk of someone's lunch as one of the lunch teachers approached, an angry expression on her face.

"Uh-oh." Justin nudged Alex. "That's Ms. Asper. She's..."

Alex wouldn't find out what Ms. Asper was from Justin, but would have to see for himself.

"Up, boy, get up! Starting a food fight-- how dare you-- the principal--" She moved over to Nathan's table and began berating him.

Alex felt his heart sink. He had been in Mr. Magister's office only hours before, and now they would be heading back. What would the headmaster think?

He stood up, grabbing a couple napkins for his pizza-stained shirt, and walked a few feet to where Juliette was standing, her head hanging low. Alex ignored her, still angry about her 'imaginary friend' jab. And basically the entire thing with her yelling at him for something he didn't do.

There was a reason Alex didn't like her.

Alex scowled at Juliette. It was her fault they were in this mess. If she hadn't gone over to confront him, if she hadn't thrown the hot dog at Nathan...

Who was walking over with Ms. Asper, his cocky grin gone.

Ms. Asper shook her head. "I don't believe it! A food fight, of all things! What were you thinking?"

She didn't give them a chance to answer, but continued muttering to herself as she marched out of the cafeteria. "Hot dogs flying everywhere! I don't believe it! And the pizza!" She ranted to herself as the kids followed her out.

Alex was surprised to hear sniffling from someone behind him. Neither Juliette nor Nathan seemed like the crying type.

But when he turned around, he saw Juliette with her head bowed, wiping something off of her cheek.

Juliette must have felt his eyes on her, because she looked up and glared at Alex. "What do you want?" she snapped. Her voice was watery, however.

Alex stepped back and raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry."

She glared at him for a minute longer before hanging her head back down, letting out a small sniffle. "No, I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Alex said, confused. Why was Juliette apologizing to him?

Juliette sighed in annoyance, which made Alex feel a little better. That was the Juliette he knew, not this crying, apologizing person.

"I'm sorry I accused you of throwing that at me. It wasn't you, was it."

Alex blinked. "Uh, no, it wasn't. But it's okay. Uh, hang on." He fumbled to pull the napkins out of his pocket. They were a bit crumpled, but they would work.

"What are those for?" Juliette asked. Her crying had mostly stopped.

"You." Alex shoved them into her hands. "You know, to, like, wipe off your shirt. You got some ketchup on it."

Juliette looked down. "Oh yeah. Thanks." She took the napkins and wiped off her shirt, but only succeeded in smearing it, a red stain dividing the shirt into two pieces.

"Sor--" Alex began, but was surprised when Juliette began to laugh.

"Whoops," she said, then dissolved into laughter once more.

It was infectious. Soon Alex began laughing too, causing Nathan to look up from where he was trudging along behind them, and Ms. Asper to glare.

"Thanks, Alex," Juliette said in a whisper. "Sorry they didn't work."

"Oh, uh, it's ok. Actually, I should be the one apologizing because it's your shirt that smeared."

Juliette shrugged. "It's alright. I have plenty of shirts. And a washing machine should be able to get it off."

Ms. Asper stopped suddenly, nearly send Alex falling to the ground. Juliette stiffled a giggle as the teacher turned around and glared at them.

"Now, I know it may be difficult for you, but please try to be polite for the principal. She won't be happy if treated otherwise."

Wait, she? Alex began to notice other things about where they were. This was a regular door, not the heavy wood doors that led to Mr. Magister's office. And they hadn't climbed a billion staircases to get here, either.

This wasn't Mr. Magister's office. And whoever was inside wasn't Mr. Magister.

Alex swallowed as Ms. Asper opened the door and gestured for them to come in.

"Hang on." For the first time since leaving the cafeteria, Nathan spoke. "Um, Juliette, can I talk to you?"

Juliette looked surprised, but she nodded. "Sure."

Alex groaned inwardly. He would have to face the principal by himself.

Ms. Asper waved impatiently. "Get in here! Hurry!"

Shooting one last, desperate, glance at the others, Alex headed into the office.

A lady Alex had never seen before sat at a regular teacher's desk. She had dark brown skin and straight black hair that hung down to her shoulders.

She was writing something down on a piece of paper, but looked up when Alex entered. "Hello...?" she asked, looking confused. "I wasn't expecting guests." She looked at Ms. Asper expectantly.

Ms. Asper launched into a spirited explanation of the food fight, explaining in great detail how Juliette had been hit with the hot dog, and instead of ignoring it, decided to get revenge on the person who threw it.

It was at this point that Juliette and Nathan entered the room. Juliette was wearing an odd expression, but when she heard Ms. Asper, Juliette bowed her head in shame.

When Ms. Asper had finished, the principal nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Asper. I can take it from here."

Ms. Asper hesitated, then nodded and left the room. When she was gone, the principal nodded.

"Um, excuse me, but... um..." Alex stuttered. "Um, why isn't Mr. Magister here?"

The principal smiled. "The headmaster is a very busy man. I am the one in charge of... troublesome... students. My name is Mrs. Justus." She surveyed their faces. "Although I'm not sure if you three are as troublesome as Ms. Asper made you out to be. She is prone to exaggeration."

The three of them were silent for a minute. Then Nathan spoke up.

"It's all my fault, Mrs. Justus."

Mrs. Justus sighed. "I daresay I've seen enough of you in this office, Mr. Anderson. How so?"

"Well, I threw the hot dog at Juliette first."

Mrs. Justus nodded. "That's what Ms. Asper said. But that doesn't excuse Juliette from throwing something else back at you."

Alex glanced at Juliette. Her head was down, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Nathan shook his head. "No. I mean, maybe, but the thing is, I manipulated Juliette's emotions so she would be angry and throw it at me."

Alex was surprised, but Juliette didn't move. That must have been what Nathan was telling her earlier.

"Nathan, why did you do that?" Mrs. Justus asked, sounding exasperated.

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. I shouldn't have, it's just... I don't know."

Mrs. Justus sighed again. "Okay. Mr. Anderson, you will serve detention this Saturday. You two are free to go, and I hope I don't see you in this office again."

Looking stunned, Juliette nodded. Alex did the same and they both left.

The moment they were out of the office, Juliette broke down sobbing.

Alex was alarmed. "Juliette? Are... are you okay?"

Juliette nodded, still crying.

Alex shook his head and sighed.

He would never understand girls.